Alameda County Office of AIDS Administration Partners with Transgender Community
Posted in news on Aug 1st, 2006
In mid-January 2006, four deeply committed and serious-minded women sat at a conference table with Ronald Person, Director of the Office of AIDS Administration (OAA), and shared their deepest concerns, fears and hopes about the current state of affairs related to the Alameda County Transgender community, at large.
This meeting, at times, was graphic in details…emotional, educational, inspiring and jovial but, most of all… it was heartfelt and sincere in its ability to honestly express the urgent need in establishing more focus and awareness on the historically excluded TG community.
Mr. Person promised his office’s support in future efforts to promote increased community awareness and education.
This momentous occasion was the beginning of what the group hopes to be an innovative—historical—new beginning for Transgender-specific services and resources in Alameda County.
Plans for a strategic, non-evasive, confidential and professional process were immediately put into place.
Operating under its new moniker the Alameda County Transgender Steering Committee will work diligently to insure that existing local community services and resources have been appropriately educated in the provision of services to County residents who self-identify as Transgender.
ACT Steering Committee Coordinator, Sharyn Grayson, wants to stress that this is NOT a “watchdog” group. The Steering Committee’s approach is to try to work with local CBOs, ASOs and other area service providers, in a collaborative effort, to help make existing services more sensitive to the needs of this unique client population.
Bonnie Williams, who will guide the Steering Committee’s administrative policies and support services, added that, “In some ethnic groups, there is a serious stigma associated with the term Transgender. Hopefully, this body will be able to address issues of this magnitude and make appropriate suggestions and recommendations.”
Tiffany Woods, whose extensive background in TG advocacy will be the guiding force behind the Steering Committee’s plans to establish appropriate community linkages, currently works with a South County agency that provides TG-specific services. On a daily basis, she witnesses the many challenges and frustrations of her clients, who are simply seeking the provision of equitable care and treatment.
Junie Tate, who is also currently employed by an agency that provides services to TG residents (in West County) and, who will help to develop and coordinate the Committee’s community education plans, views the OAA support and interest as, “A unique (and timely) opportunity to acknowledge the ‘unheard voices’ of the County’s Transgender residents.”
